Execution warrant issued for teen's killer 25 years after death

TEMPE, Ariz. – An execution warrant has been issued for an inmate who has been on death row since 1985 for killing a teen girl.

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday scheduled the execution of Donald Edward Beaty, 56, who was convicted of raping and suffocating 13-year-old Christy Fornoff in Tempe. He abducted her on May 9, 1984.

The victim was found dead two days later behind a Dumpster. She was collecting money from her paper route when her mother temporarily lost sight of her.

Police say Beaty, who was the apartment maintenance man at the time, kidnapped her and then killed her.

Beaty is scheduled to be put to death on May 25 at the Florence state prison.

His attorneys argue that he shouldn’t be executed by lethal injection due to questions surrounding the drug.

Beaty’s lawyers said the sedative used in the execution is unregulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is illegally obtained.